MyNewsGh, an online news portal that reported on March 23, 2023 that the wife and kids of Member of Parliament for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu had been granted asylum in the US; have retracted and apologized to the MP.
In a three paragraphed statement dated March 24, 2023 and titled: 'Retraction and Apology to Hon. Francis Xavier Sosu,' the portal said the editorial team had found that the publication "contained slanderous materials and unverified allegations made against the person of Francis Xavier Sosu."
The statement proceeded to issue a full retraction and apology for same.
The statement comes hours after lawyers for the MP demanded a retraction and apology within six hours from close to midnight of Friday (March 24) failure for which they were readying to institute a legal suit to demand damages of five million Ghana cedis.
Retraction and Apology to Hon. Francis Xavier Sosu
Our attention has been drawn to a story published in respect of the Member of Parliament for Madina, Hon. Francis Xavier Sosu with the Headline Madina MP’s Wife and 4 Kids Granted US Gov’t Asylum Over Anti-LGBTQI Threats?
The Editorial team has taken a second look at the contents of the story and realized that it contained slanderous materials and unverified allegations made against the person of Francis Xavier Sosu.
MyNewsGh.com wishes to retract and apologize unreservedly to the Hon Francis Xavier Sosu for any harm caused as a result of the publication.
Background:
The portal reported that the MP's wife and four children had been granted asylum by the US government as a result of threats to his life in the course of his work.
It specifically mentioned that the threats were linked to his opposition to an anti-LGBTQ+ Bill that was currently before Parliament.
But in the letter released by his lawyers, Sosu flatly denied both the asylum and purported reason for same.
"We have further instructions that the above allegation is false and publication of same is made maliciously without justification and is calculated to injure the hard-earned reputation of our clinet, and to expose him to hatred, ridicule and contempt," the statement read in part.
It added that failure to retract and apologize will result in "legal action for damages of five million Ghana cedis (GHC5,000,000) to protect our client's image and reputation from the false and malicious publication on your news portal should you fail to heed the demands of our client."
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